Lewis Acid-Catalyzed Intramolecular [2 + 2] Cycloaddition of alpha-Ester-Substituted Conjugated Dienyl- and Trienylphosphonates. New Synthesis of Functionalized Cyclic Terpenoids

alpha-Ester-substituted 1,3-dienylphosphonates 7 and 8, prepared by the Knoevenagel condensation, underwent intramolecular [2 + 2] cycloaddition in the presence of Lewis acid to form bicyclo[4.2.0] (26-57% yield) and bicyclo[3.2.0]skeleton (14-38% yield), respectively. Similar treatment of homologous 1,3-dienylphosphonate 11 and 1,3,5-trienylphosphonate 12 resulted in the formation of ionone derivatives (30-94% yield). The intramolecular cycloaddition reaction was applicable to several conjugated dienes bearing an ester group.     

Mechanism of glass ampoule breakage prevention during the freeze-drying process of sodium thiopental lyophilization products on addition of sodium chloride

Glass ampoule breakage during the freeze-drying process was prevented by the addition of sodium chloride to the formulation of lyophilization products of sodium thiopental. In order to clarify the ampoule breakage prevention mechanism, the physicochemical behavior of the freeze-drying process was monitored by simultaneous XRD-DSC measurements and thermal mechanical analysis (TMA). During the freezing process of formulated solution, the smaller heat of fusion of crystallized ice with the addition of sodium chloride was observed in comparison to that without sodium chloride. Although a greater amorphous portion remained, a higher crystal habit of hexagonal ice was reproducibly observed in the XRD patterns with the addition of sodium chloride during the freezing process. In the measurement of TMA, the scattering of the thermal expansion rate of formulated solution was significantly reduced by the addition of sodium chloride. These observations indicated that the addition of sodium chloride minimized the scattering of the thermal expansion rate and might be a cause for the inhibition of glass ampoule breakage during the freeze-drying process.     

Stereospecific thermal isomerization of 2, 2-dimethylbenzocyclobutenols to 2-isopropenylphenyl alcohols

Thermolysis of the 1-alkyl-2,2-dimethylbenzocyclobutenol 3 at 160 degrees C gave the 2-isopropenylphenyl alcohol 8 through an (E)-dienol intermediate by a 1,5-sigmatropic hydrogen shift from the isopropylidene methyl group to the carbon bearing hydroxy group. In the thermolysis of each of the diastereomeric 2, 2-dimethylbenzocyclobutenols 6 and 7 which have a hydroxy group on the beta-carbon of the quaternary C(1)-alkyl substituent, the isomerization to the 2-isopropenylphenyl alcohols 10 and 11 took place stereospecifically through a twisted (E)-dienol intermediate. The configuration of the newly formed chiral center in 10 and 11 was the same as that of the ring carbon bearing hydroxy group in the starting 6 and 7.     

The serini reaction of 16,17-dihydroxysteroid monoacetates

The Serini reaction of 16α-alkyl (or phenyl)-1β,17β-dihydroxysteroid monoacetates 5 and 10 gave stereospecifically 16β-substituted steroids 6 and 111 in good yields. This rearrangement was shown to proceed through 1,2 hydride shift. It was found that under the same reaction conditions, 16α-vinyl-16β,17β-diol 17-acetate 5c rearranged into Z-16-ethylidene compound 24 via 1,4 hydride shift.     

Protein denaturation in dosage forms measured by differential scanning calorimetry

The stability of beta-galactosidase dosage forms was studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). It was found that the observed enthalpy of thermal denaturation was approximately in proportion to remaining enzyme activity, and denaturation temperature was related to protein stability. These results suggest that DSC can be used to determine native proteins in dosage forms and to clarify the factors affecting protein stability. The DSC method seems to be more convenient than conventional activity assay methods, and useful to follow protein denaturation during the manufacturing process and storage of dosage forms.     

Vinyl polymerization initiated by the (dimethylaniline-n-oxide)/(phenacyl bromide) system

Binary systems consisting of dimethylaniline-N-oxide (DMOA) and some α-halo-carbonyl compounds, such as phenacyl halide and α-halo-acetic acid ester, were found to induce radical polymerization of vinyl monomers. Bromo-derivatives showed higher initiating activities than chloroderivatives. The polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) with DMAO and phenacyl bromide (PBr) was investigated kinetically. The polymerization rate (R_p) was expressed as follows; $\text{R}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>p</mtext>}}\text{=}\text{k[DMAO]}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{[}\text{PBr}\text{]}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{[}\text{MMA}\text{]}$.The overall activation energy of the polymerization was calculated to be 42.7 kJ mol^?1. No noticeable chain-transfer from the polymer radical to DMAO or PBr was observed. The benzoyl radical was trapped by 2-nitroso-2-methylpropane, a spin trapping reagent, in the reaction of DMAO and PBr. The u.v. spectrum of poly (MMA) obtained suggests that the polymer contains end-groups similar to acetophenone and DMA. From the results, an initiation mechanism for the polymerization has been proposed and discussed.     

Effects of carboxyl groups on the adsorption behavior of low-molecular-weight substances on a stainless steel surface

The adsorption isotherms of various carboxylic acids and several amines on a stainless steel surface were taken as a function of pH and the ionic strength of the solution at 30 degrees C. In particular, the effect of the number of carboxyl groups on the adsorption behavior was investigated. Monocarboxylic acids such as benzoic acid and n-butyric acid were reversibly adsorbed on the stainless steel particles and showed a Langmuir-type adsorption isotherm, i.e., Q=KqmC/(1+KC), where Q and C are, respectively, the amount of adsorbate adsorbed and the equilibrium concentration in the bulk solution, qm, the maximum adsorbed amount, and K is the adsorption equilibrium constant. Carboxylic acids having plural carboxyl groups had much higher affinity to the surface and were adsorbed in both reversible and irreversible modes. The adsorption isotherms for the carboxylic acids having plural carboxyl groups could be expressed by a modified Langmuir-type adsorption isotherm, i.e., Q=q(irrev)+Kq(rev)C/(1+KC), where q(irrev) and q(rev) are, respectively, the maximum amounts adsorbed irreversibly and reversibly. The K and q(irrev) values increased with an increase in the number of carboxyl groups except for isophthalic acid and terephthalic acid. On the basis of the pH dependencies of K, qm, q(irrev), and q(rev) as well as the surface properties of the stainless steel, both reversible and irreversible adsorptions were considered to occur through the electrostatic interaction between negatively charged carboxyl groups and the positively charged sites on the surface. The dependency of the q(irrev) value on ionic strength was discussed on the basis of the differences in their adsorbed state with the interaction forces to the surface and repulsive forces among the adsorbed molecules. The adsorption of amine components was quite weak. The RA-IR and molecular dynamics calculation were done to investigate the adsorption states of phthalic acid, trimellitic acid, and mellitic acid.     

Effects of liposomal phophatidylserine on phagocytic uptake of liposomes by macrophage-like HL-60RG cells

The purpose of this work is to know the effect of surface properties of liposomes on their phagocytic uptake by macrophages. For this, liposomes were prepared by the Bangham technique from the mixture of phosphatidylcholine (PC) and cholesterol (Chol) incorporated either with phosphatidylserine (PS), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) or phosphatidic acid (PA). The liposomes thus prepared had diameters in the range between 150 and 260 nm. Electric surface properties of the liposomes and the macrophages differentiated from HL-60RG cells were determined by measuring their electrophoretic mobilities. The phagocytic uptake of liposomes with different contents of PS, PE and PA by macrophage-like HL-60RG cells was investigated by measuring oxygen consumption associated with phagocytic uptake. The phagocytic activity was found to be the highest with the PC–Chol liposomes containing 7 mol% PS, but no significant effects were observed with PA- and PE-containing PC–Chol liposomes. As the uptake was independent of the electric surface property of liposomes, PS was concluded to be specifically important for phagocytic activity of macrophages.     

Synthesis of 3-phenylpyrroles by hydride reduction of 4-hydroxypyrrolidin-2-ones

3-Phenylpyrroles 2 were easily prepared in good yields by hydride reduction of 4-hydroxypyrrolidin-2-ones 1 , which have been prepared in high yields from the photoreaction of N,N-dialkylbenzoylacetamides, with lithium aluminum hydride.     

Syntheses and biological properties of new 8-fluorocarbapenem derivatives

8-Fluorocarbapenem derivatives having various C-3 side chains were synthesized to study for the structure-activity relationship of carbapenems by in vitro biological evaluation. The introduction of fluorine at C-8 of racemic PS-5 led to slight improvements of the antimicrobial activity and the stability to renal dehydropeptidase-I. When D-cysteine was additionally introduced to the C-3 position of (+/-)-8-fluorocarbapenem, the diastereomeric separation of the 8-fluorocarbapenems became feasible. As expected from penicillins and cephalosporins, (+)-8-fluoro-3-D-cysteinylcarbapenem (+)-7a was antimicrobially active, whereas (-)-7b was inactive. It is worth noting, however, that (+)-7a was significantly more sensitive to renal dehydropeptidase-I than (-)-7b. Irrespective of the presence of fluorine at C-8, basic S-side chains at C-3, such as the pyridyl and pyrrolidyl groups, significantly improved in antimicrobial activity and dehydropeptidase-I stability. The combination of 8-fluorination with C-3 basic side chains in 7c--g resulted in a marked improvement of antimicrobial activity and dehydropeptidase-I stability.